Posts filed under ‘Clannad’

Oh, and the cancer that is killing KyoAni? They are too reliant on attention-to-detail. If you read the manga, the quality is almost the same as the animé. While this may be KyoAni’s strongest point, it is also their weakest. Without any form of minor rewrite to the script, they are only able to produce animé that are a bit too faithful to the manga series. So I hear you liek mudkips. And that’s the cancer that is killing Kyoani.

I was kinda wondering why they had that one shot where they showed Misae in a typical porn pose that emphasized how smoking hot she was (AS IF WE DIDN’T ALREADY KNOW). Also, TOMOYO KYOU IN DA LOCKA. Apart from that, the episode itself was a masterstroke in shot placement, pace, and scenery porn, but then again, so was the whole first season.

And again when Kotomi wasn’t needed and still showed up. And the Fuuko Master scenes (which were really annoying, cinematically speaking). And the misture and sudden tying up of the Kyou/Tomoyo route mash. Or the fact that the OP scene was pretty much a Key staple OP in extremely pretty animated form (personally, Kanon did the Key OP thing a lot better. I have never seen such a recockulous amount of effort into SHOWING Ayu eating her taiyaki. Or Mai’s hair. Oh lawks the hair) Yes all the Key VNs have this annoying roll call of characters. Usually the main heroines tho. But rest assured, IT’S ALL THERE IN THE VNS.

Nor could I understand the seemingly unrelated scenes where robot and girl interact (though this originally was attributed to my unwillingness to suspend my disbelief). Which also manifested itself as Ayu’s I HAS A DREAM scenes right before every arc. AND THE END. DRR DRR DRR.

Which would mean that there is some fundamental problem that cannot be atributed to just the human sentiment of wanting either more or too much from everything (which is still the root cause of the problem here.). Too much attention to detail, perhaps, KyoAni? I believe so.

The problem here is this. KyoAni prides itself on attention-to-detail. Probably waaaaaaaay too much. CLANNAD is not your typical VN, where you can pick your girl and be a happy man (relatively speaking). Every single arc is connected to the main plot (or so I hear). It is one of the most ambitious VNs ever made (it was 4 years in the making and drained a lot of money, too), so any adaptation has to be extremely ambitious in order to meet this extremely tall order.

It’s painfully obvious that KyoAni has stretched itself to breaking point to deliever what I personally feel is their magnum opus (AS IF KANON WASN’T ENOUGH ALREADY), and it’s showing. The pandering (OH LAWKS NOT THE PANDERING), the seemingly un-CLANNAD shots (like that one Misae shot), the sloppiness (as some people has said), all the minor nitpickings people are nitpicking over…

If you ask me, it’s clear that KyoAni has taken a job that is too big for their britches, even for a studio like thiers. CLANNAD was an insane gamble that paid off big-time for Key, and to adapt something this big requires not just extremely big balls (which KyoAni have already shown by taking on this Sisyphyean gamble), it requires nerves of steel, an insane director with an extremely creative BENT (think Shinbo, but less artsy), and unwavering belief in what they do. And even when they lack some of the things required, they still pull through, even if it feels lacking (like pretty much everyone around these parts here feel).

Though if you ask me, by saying CLANNAD the animé sucks, you’re gonna have to say CLANNAD the VN sucks too. For being way too ambitious. Because the fault does not lie with the studio, it’s with the source material.

Are you forcing me, then, to say Key sucks? Because that’s what everyone wants me to do. And because it’s not just cool to hate on sacred cashcows, it brings in the hits, and in the interests of more hits, I’m going to say it out now.

Key sucks. ONE sucked monkeyballs. Kanon is a piece of shit. AIR deserves to be consigned to a trash heap. CLANNAD is tripe and deserves to be thrown into the shredder. Tomoy o After is more than crap, it’s anathema (OH WAIT), Little Busters is made of fail and lose and is so overrated it needs to die in a fire (AND THE PORN EDITION TOO). And planetarian may be a step in the right direction, but it still sucks. In fact, Maeda Jun deserves to be anally raped by FROZEN ICYDONGS for making such shit.

The other CLANNAD review was meant to be a bit of a joke. No srsly, I did that one for the lulz. And lulz was had.

But since Apparently CLANNAD is SERIOUS BUSINESS, I need to have a serious review, or else people are going to think I am some crazed fanboy (crazed yes, fanboy, a lot less so.). Why? because CLANNAD is SERIOUS BUSINESS.

Also coincides with the announcement that After Story is being animated, and the fact that I’m waiting for that really awful Magical Heart Kokoro-Chan OVA to arrive (I’m giving my first impression of it by the OP, and holy nuclear facepalms, that is one OP destined for EPIC FAILANDIA.).

CLANNAD is a very beautiful animated series. From the first episode to the last (of Season 1, DUH), the first and most significant thing I noticed was that it was very beautiful. And it’s not just the looks, that much I can say.

But if we’re going to talk about the visuals, then yes, CLANNAD is rather pretty visually. I’ve got not much to say about the visuals, it’s mostly excellent KyoAni work, so not much to write about if you’re not interested in fanboy screaming.

The main draw of CLANNAD is in the story. In this case, there’s a whole lot of ground to cover, and you do not have a lot of time to cover them all. The original visual novel is pretty likable, I mean, I have yet to hear anyone complain about CLANNAD, so there’s nothing wrong in THAT department. But we’re not talking about the original visual novel, so we’ll wait until I play through the game for that review.

The way KyoAni adapted the game for the show, well, it’s a work of art. Really beautiful, extremely well-executed, even up to the end. Classic KyoAni work. You’ll never find screenplay more beautiful, an ending so fitting. Gurren Lagann is probably it’s equal in that sense.

But like any great work of art, there will always be criticisms. And even I have to admit, CLANNAD has a few flaws, and most of them could distract the casual viewer from noticing the raw beauty of this series. Fuuko’s and Kotomi’s arcs took way too long. Fuuko has overstayed her welcome (Yes she has!). They cut out Misae’s (Fairly unimportant, but I really wanted to see epic tears), Sanae’s (mildly unforgivable), Ryou’s (okay, this is rather unforgivable) and Yukine’s (I know she’s irrevelant to the real story, but… T_T) paths. No Kyou and Tomoyo paths, and they didn’t wrap up all the loose ends with Kyou and Ryou. The ending was a bit weak. Yes, even I felt the ending was a bit weak. It could have ended on a stronger note, but that would man giving the finger to After Story, and that is an even more unforgivable crime than not covering Yukine more. And even I felt at times, the show was getting boring. Hey, it does happen.

Right after I thought that the ending was a bit weak, it hit me. Watching Nagisa and Tomoya affirming their feelings, it made me realize I was looking at it through the wrong side of the telescope. It wasn’t about the individual flaws that shows up in the show, it’s to be expected in anything made by human hands. It’s about how you see the series as a whole, and looking back at how much I enjoyed the whole 22 episodes, from the laughs, to the tears, and everything in between, what I was really looking at was a glimpse of the way we were supposed to see everything.

True, even the most beautiful thing has flaws, but even then, are you willing to look past the flaws to see the hidden beauty inside? Because some series are actually unpolished diamonds, waiting for the viewer to find it and polish it. Not all series have it though. Gurren Lagann is like a polished diamond in the rough. Eva is ugly through and through, no matter hw many remakes it has. Haa Roo Hay, eh, it’s closer to a semi-precious stone.

My point stands, though. CLANNAD is still beautiful, if only in my eyes. And well, I actually enjoyed my time with the show. I haven’t enjoyed myself this much since Gurren Lagann or Overman King Gainer.

Hey, I’m not asking anyone to change their opinions, I’m just asking everyone to give CLANNAD another chance. I mean, if we can have CERTAIN people (no I did not just flame Kurogane, so put down your pitchforks and torches and whatnot.) idiotically fanboying True Tears to the point of hyping it like Haa Roo Hay, and I’ll actually give it the full treatment, why not give CLANNAD a second chance?

I mean, since we all know that After story is being (or going to be) animated, shouldn’t we be glad that KyoAni is saving the best for another season and appreciate CLANNAD more instead?

PS: YUKINEEEEEEEEEEEEE T_T BAWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW

PPS: If both episodes are the Sunohara BAD END route, then WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!

Fuuko appears… … … in a non-threatening manner that does not deserves epic purging with bolter, sword and holy fire.

LOL WE CAN HAS NAGISA END?

Sunohara gets REJECTED!

…Actually, I’m out of highlights.

NEXT WEEK: 1 MORE EPISODE TO THE END. WILL TOMOYA FIND OUT THE TERRIBLE SECRET OF NAGISA’S PAST? WILL FUUKO APPEAR AGAIN? WILL THE ORDO MALLEUS HUNT HER DOWN AND PUT HER OUT OF HER MISERY? ARE SANAE AND AKIO GENESTEALERS FROM THE FUTURE? IS FUUKO TRULY A FOUL HERETIC WITCH? WHAT ABOUT YUKINE AND HER MAGICKS? IS SHE A ROUGE PSYKER? WHY AM I EVEN CROSSING CLANNAD AND WARHAMMER 40K? FIND OUT NEXT WEEK!